THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS OF STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION (Part 2)

ACCA P3 考試：THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS OF STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION (Part 2)

DEADLY SIN FOUR

INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITIES FOR IMPLEMENTING THE CHANGE ARE NOT CLEAR

It is not sufficient just to develop a very insightful and relevant strategy and hope that the logic behind the strategy will be enough to make it a reality. People should be given clear and specific responsibilities for making strategy work. The more people you directly involve in the implementation process the better. This will create a wider sense of ownership, commitment and responsibility for making the strategy happen. Accountability must go hand in hand with responsibility. If someone has been given an implementation task, make sure they do it. Part of assigning staff responsibility is giving clear, understandable instructions and tasks and reviewing progress at regular intervals.

DEADLY SIN FIVE

CHIEF EXECUTIVES AND SENIOR MANAGERS STEP OUT OF THE PICTURE ONCE IMPLEMENTATION BEGINS

It is very important that strong leadership is provided during the implementation phase. People will be looking for clues. If staff feel that senior management are not fully committed to the strategy, their commitment and enthusiasm for it will wane. Staff must believe that implementing the strategy is one of the organisation's top priorities. From the time the strategy is developed, senior management must sell and continue to sell the strategy to the organisation and to the other stakeholders. They need to explain the vision and communicate the importance of the strategy for the future of the organisation.

DEADLY SIN SIX

THE 'BRICK WALLS' ARE NOT RECOGNISED

Nothing ever goes exactly according to plan. Organisations operate in an ever changing and dynamic environment. It is important that those brick walls, which inevitably will be encountered along the way, are acknowledged and addressed. When those moments of crisis or uncertainty occur, staff should be encouraged to develop creative and innovative solutions to surmount these obstacles.

DEADLY SIN SEVEN

FORGETTING TO 'MIND THE SHOP'

There is a risk that the process of developing and implementing strategy becomes the consuming concern of senior management. They forget that they have a business to run, targets to meet, a service to provide and customers to serve. Both management and staff must believe that implementing the strategy is as important as doing the day job. One is not more important than the other and the strategy, if it is relevant and meaningful, should become an integral part of the day job.

Shareholders will not thank senior management for developing and implementing a very well crafted strategy while at the very same time, letting profitability fall significantly or customer service to deteriorate.

It is important that strategy is a continuous activity and not a once-off event. Periodic checks are necessary. Check that the assumptions are still valid. Identify and anticipate events or developments, both internal and external, which may require a revision or addition to the strategy. Make the changes quickly and communicate them to all concerned; however make sure that the changes are really required and the strategy is not being adjusted in a frivolous manner.

Strategy implementation is always going to be difficult and fraught with danger of being abandoned through inertia or resistance. Change is never easy. However, the task of putting strategy to work can be made much easier and have greater chances of success by avoiding the seven deadly sins outlined above.